Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (ESV) 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (NIV)

In John 3, this respected religious leader, Nicodemus, sneaks out at night to meet with Jesus. He doesn’t want anyone to see him…probably worried about what people might think. But before he even asks his question, Jesus gives him THE answer: 

“I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Jesus doesn’t tell Nicodemus that it’s about religion or good behavior. He says it’s about being made new. He explains that He’ll die and rise again so that anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. Finally, He says that people who love the darkness more than the light will stay in that darkness… They won’t want to be seen with Him in the light.

Nicodemus wanted to be near Jesus, but not necessarily seen with Him. He cared more about protecting his reputation. And Jesus ends their talk by saying that those who genuinely want to live in the truth will come into the light—unafraid of their sin being exposed—because they have already exposed it themselves, knowing Jesus has already covered it.

That’s the invitation for all of us: step out of the dark, into the light. Be made new. Be born again. 

You can either cover your sin and let Jesus expose it, or expose your sin and let Jesus cover it.

Peter writes to those who have done just that—the ones God chose long ago, made holy by the Spirit, and are covered by the blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:2). 

The enemy doesn’t care if we’re “good people.” What he wants is to keep us from hope and joy in Jesus.

It’s all about being born again through Christ and utterly surrendering all to Him, leaving your old way behind, killing your old self, and being made new in Jesus and knowing that His way is genuinely better. Now living in His light because He is our living hope.

Written by Blake Stanley